Front wheel drive vehicles commonly include a front hub and axle bearing knuckle assembly wherein the axle bearing's outer race is received within a knuckle and the hub is press fit to the axle bearing's inner race to rotatably support the hub with respect to the knuckle. A typical hub includes a cylindrical portion adjacent an inner end and an annular flange adjacent an outer end having a plurality of circumferentially spaced threaded studs for mounting a wheel thereto. The hub is press fitted into the bearing inner race and an axial passage extends throughout the length of the hub to receive a drive shaft.
Occasionally, the situation arises where it is necessary to remove the hub from the axle bearing for replacing or servicing, and a significant axial force must be applied to the hub to overcome the frictional forces between the hub and axle bearing to permit separation thereof.
While special tools have been devised to assist the mechanic in removing the hub from front wheel drive axle bearings an easy-to-use economical and universal tool is not available. For instance, presently available tools are difficult to assemble and often require the mechanic to have to reach around or under the knuckle which supports the axle bearing and hub assembly. While it is sometimes necessary to remove the axle bearing, some tools do not permit removal of the hub unless the axle bearing or other internal parts are removed, and such tools are not readily adapted to accommodate various makes of vehicles and hub sizes.
It is an object of the invention to provide a hub puller for removing hubs from front wheel drive axle bearings wherein the hub puller is easily applied to the hub and is simple to operate.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hub puller for removing hubs from front wheel drive axle bearings wherein the hub puller is readily modified to accommodate various makes of vehicles and hub sizes.
A further object of the invention is to provide a hub puller for removing hubs from front wheel drive axle bearings wherein the hub puller permits the mechanic to work in the "open" area away from behind the knuckle which supports the axle bearing and hub.
Still a further object of the invention is to provide a hub puller for removing hubs from front wheel drive axle bearings wherein the hub puller permits the hub to be removed without the necessity of removing other internal parts, such as the axle bearing, yet, if necessary, the hub puller may be readily adapted to remove the axle bearing.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hub puller of simple construction which is easy to use, dependable in operation, and economical to manufacture.
In the practice of the invention the hub puller includes a relatively flat yoke having an inner side, an outer side, and a central hole extending therethrough. A pair of parallel, spaced anchor arms are adjustable mounted to the yoke by fasteners and extend in a common direction from the inner side. An elongated threaded shaft having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the yoke's central hole includes an inner end adapted to releasably receive an annular adapter for engaging the hub to be removed and an outer end which passes through the yoke's hole. A thrust bearing is slidably mounted on the shaft's outer end and is of a diameter larger than the diameter of the yoke's central hole. An actuating nut threaded upon the shaft forces the thrust bearing against the yoke's outer side to draw the adapter toward the yoke.
In a typical application the hub puller is used to remove a hub from a front wheel drive axle bearing wherein the axle bearing is received within a cylindrical socket defined in a knuckle housing and the hub is press fitted to the inner race of the axle bearing. An axial bore extends throughout the hub from an inner end to an outer end adjacent an annular flange upon which a wheel is adapted to be mounted.
In use, after removing the drive shaft from the hub's bore, the hub puller's yoke is positioned adjacent the hub's flange and the spacing between the arms is adjusted by the fasteners so that the arms' ends extend around the flange and engage a portion of the knuckle housing. The threaded shaft is passed through the yoke central hole and hub's bore and the adapter is positioned on the shaft to engage the hub's inner end. The thrust bearing is located on the shaft's outer end between the yoke and the actuating nut and engages the yoke as the nut is tightened.
The actuating nut may be initially hand tightened and then a conventional wrench or air wrench may be applied to the nut's wrench engaging flats to provide further rotation. As rotation of the nut occurs, the thrust bearing is forced against the yoke's outer side which compresses and forces the arms against the knuckle housing and causes the shaft to axially translate in the direction of the yoke whereby the adapter axially displaces the hub with respect to the axle bearing to permit removal of the hub from the axle bearing.
The particular adapter mounted on the shaft may be selected to accommodate the hub puller for various hub sizes, and, if necessary, an adapter may be utilized which is of sufficient diameter to engage the axle bearing for removing the axle bearing from the housing. As a variety of adapters may be utilized with the hub puller, and the spacing between the arms is adjustable, the hub puller is readily applied, easy to operate and accommodates various makes of vehicles and hub sizes.